Works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti feature in Art & Music Sale

Lots 274 and 275 in our Art and Music Sale on 23 October are conté crayon portraits by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

They depict the English physician and poet Dr Thomas Gordon Hake (1809-1895) and his son George Gordon Hake, both of whom became great friends of Rossetti after caring for him when his health deteriorated during the 1870s.

These drawings were produced at a farmhouse in Trowan, Scotland where Rossetti was recuperating and are unusual in their depiction of men rather than women.The artist’s brother, William Michael Rossetti, believed them to be amongst the best of Dante Gabriel’s male portraits and they are an extraordinary feat of draughtsmanship at such a turbulent period in the artist’s life.

Estimated respectively at £10,000-£15,000 and £20,000-£30,000.

For further information please see William Gaunt 'Two Portrait Drawings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti' (The Connoisseur December 1942). A copy of this article is available for viewing at the Oxford saleroom. To see our full catalogue click here